NASSAU, The Bahamas — Opposition Leader Michael Pintard is calling out the Davis administration over a nearly half-million-dollar Christmas decoration contract awarded by the Ministry of Finance, accusing the government of bypassing procurement laws and misusing public funds. The Office of the Prime Minister has pushed back, defending the spending as lawful, transparent, and supportive of local businesses and communities.
Opposition Leader Michael Pintard, in a statement, questioned why the Ministry of Finance has awarded contracts for Christmas decorations totaling nearly half a million dollars—an expense he says is far outside the Ministry’s legal scope and a sign of what he calls “naked abuse of the system.”
In a statement, Pintard raised concerns over a series of direct award contracts issued by the Ministry of Finance, suggesting they reflect a pattern of favoritism and misuse of public funds.
“When the Ministry of Finance functions less like a watchdog and more like a private ATM for a hand-chosen few, you know the system is broken,” said Pintard.
According to Pintard, recent reports from the Department of Public Procurement show the Ministry of Finance accounted for almost 90 percent of the value of all government contracts issued between December 2023 and April 2025—amounting to $369 million. Many of these, he said, bypassed the competitive bidding process required under the Public Procurement Act 2023.
He pointed specifically to the issuance of contracts unrelated to the Ministry’s core responsibilities, including “Christmas decorations, topographical surveys, tree trimming at Government House, and the construction of family courts.”
“Every right-thinking Bahamian must ask: Why is the Prime Minister, as the Minister of Finance, so determined to have his Ministry sign off on contracts for projects it should never manage and can’t properly oversee?” Pintard asked. “Why do most of these massive Ministry of Finance contracts escape competitive bidding? It boils down to one thing: control.”
He further accused Prime Minister Philip Davis of sidelining qualified contractors in favour of politically connected individuals: “It’s not fair, but it’s another example of PLP math at work. And it’s a government for the few, not for you.”
In response, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) dismissed the Opposition’s claims as political posturing based on information that is publicly available due to the Davis administration’s own transparency measures.
“Once again, the Opposition is attempting to manufacture outrage using information that is publicly available—because this administration made it public,” OPM said in a statement. “The Davis Administration has been consistent, transparent, and lawful in its procurement practices.”
Addressing the specific criticism over Christmas decoration contracts, the government defended the allocation as one that boosts local economies and enhances national holiday spirit.
“On the matter of Christmas decoration: this is an allocation that supports scores of Bahamian businesses and contributes to creating a joyful, festive environment across the capital during the holiday season for Bahamian families and visiting tourists alike,” the statement read.
OPM said the expenditure, publicly explained as early as 2023, included more than $500,000 budgeted to provide lighting and decorations in Nassau and on several Family Islands—“marking the first time many communities benefited from such national festive support.”
“The Ministry of Works outlined the vendors involved, the scope of the work, and the value to local economies,” the government noted.
“If Michael Pintard and the Free National Movement believe that Bay Street and New Providence should remain bare and joyless at Christmas, they should just say so—rather than pretending that support for local vendors and cultural expression is somehow a scandal,” the statement continued.
Rejecting what it called “recycled talking points,” OPM said the Davis administration would remain focused on transparency and results: “We will not be distracted by recycled talking points or bad-faith attacks. This administration will continue governing in transparency where our actions can be seen, understood, and yes, questioned.”
